Friday, April 1, 2011

KORVAPUUSTIT - FINNISH CINNAMON BUNS

Scandinavia is a place which's fascinating and tumultuous Viking past, unique culture, scenic grandeur and epic landscapes particularly speak to me. For some reason or another, I am mesmerized by the "land of the midnight sun". It could very well be due to the fact that I have Nothern roots and share berserker blood with its inhabitants. As a matter of fact, on my mother's side, I have English ancestors (some might have been Danish as well as Russian if you dig deep in the past) and probably also Danish origins thanks to my Swiss father (my family name seems to originate from Danemark). Anyway, Scandinavia has a certain romantic and nostalgic "je-ne-sais-quoi" that captivates my interest and touches my soul deeply...

In fact, my attraction to this penninsula dates since my early teenage years (quite a while now, LOL). My passion for this part of Europe started when I discovered Norwegian Black Metal in 1993, began to correspond with penpals who shared the same love for this sound-style and send letters all over the planet. Then, most people didn't have computers and the only way of keeping in touch was either by snail-mail or telephone.

It was an incredibly exciting period of my life because this musical movement was at it's beginning, still very underground and unspoilt by the big labels who only think about money rather than art. The music I listened to was not sold in stores and most musicians used flyers (which were placed in our letters and endlessly passed around) in order to let people know of their existence. I was in contact with many bands, bought lots of demos as well as fanzines (the printed version of blogs - I also contributed to a few of them with articles and interviews) and traded loads of tapes. I really enjoyed the secretive atmosphere and the feeling of belonging to a "hidden" group of avant-garde and alternative people.

“For me, NBM and nature are very closely related. It is synonymous with the mystique and magic of Norway."-Peter Beste, Photographer

As a rule, Heavy Metal music (black, death, pagan, viking, folk, thrash, etc...) is very popular in the North of Europe. In Norway the Black Metal subgenre (the "2nd wave of BM" saw the light of day there at the beginning of the 199o) is quite possibly one of the country's n°1 musical/cultural export since the last 20 years and the negative tabloid coverage regarding the unfortunate events of the 90's didn't stop people from buying records or the Norwegian television channel NRK and medias from supporting this kind of Extreme Metal (live reports from festivals are made, documentary are being shown, musicians are being invited on TV shows, articles are posted on Norways's official site in the UK and photographies are being exhibited). Sweden, Danemark and Iceland have brought some amazing music and have a big scene too with very popular bands, but it's Finland that has the biggest Metal scene. It is the only country on the globe where Metal is mainstream (there are 3 million metal fans in a population of 5 million)...

"Why Heavy Metal? Perhaps it's something in our hearts and we are very passionate people!"- Madame President of Finland

Nowadays, I still listen to a lot of Black Metal and Metal in general, but my love for Nordic culture has expanded to embrace other artistic genres. Lately I have discovered a growing interest for Scandinavian cinema which offers a big number of well-produced and refreshing films (nothing like the big Hollywood productions) as well as talented actors (Kristoffer Joner - one of my favorite, Aksel Hennie, Stellan Skarsgård, Alexander Skarsgård, Samuli Edelmann, Peter Franzén, Bjørn Floberg, Fares Fares, Mads Mikkelsen, Kim Bodnia, Torkel Petersson, Michael Nyqvist, Björn Starrin, etc... ) and filmakers. In addition to that, I have become extremely enthusiastic about their food and culinary customs. Being a foodie with an open mind and in constant search for novelty it is all naturally that I am strongly drawn to Scandinavia's unique cuisine and savors.

Being an amateur baker and having heard many words of praise regarding Béatrice Ojakangas' "The Great Scandinavian Book Of Baking", her cookbook has been on my mind and I have been dreaming of possessing it since a while. Happily, after much aching for that masterpiece I finally bought it for my birthday last December. Even if it is not a new publication and although it is a softcover devoid of photos this book is a real jewel. There are dozens of fabulous Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic and Finnish recipes for delightfully hearty breads, divine yeasty coffeetime confections, rich and delicate cookies as well as cakes, scrummy pies and savory treats.

Until now, I have tested four specialities (Finnish "Rieska", "Pulla" and "Korvapuustit", and Norwegian "Butter Horns") and was really satisfied with the results. All were easy to bake, the measures were accurate andthe methods were extremely straight-forward. Very encouraging. Now, I am looking forward to trying more of her awesome recipes.

Today, I have decided to present you a Finnish pastry named "Korvapuustit" (also called "Kanelli Pulla" when turned on their side and not sitting on their bottoms) and which consists of cardomomy sweet yeast dough filled with sugar and cinnamon. In Finland, you'll find them in every café or bakery. They are very popular with both Finns and foreigners alike.

Those rolls are similar to Sweden's "Kanelbullar" and to the American "Cinnamon Rolls", yet they differ a little from both. The differences lie within their ear-like shape (hence the name "Korvapuustit" meaning "little ear buns"), flavor (cardamom in the dough and a lot less sweet than their US counterpart), texture (less gooey than "Cinnamon Rolls") and size (relatively small compared to the oversized American rolls).

"Korvapuustit" are damn good and extremely irresistible. Once you've eaten one you can be sure that you'll come back for more and will not stop gobbling dem babies until you are literally exploding and feel stuffed like a pig!My coffee rolls were dreamlike, fabulously soft, gorgeously moist, wonderfully buttery, divinely spicy and soothingly sweet. One bite into these luscious bundle of pleasure will bring a smile on your face. An blissfull feeling will descend upon you and ecstasy will submerge you. Are you ready to get experience that? There's no time to procrastinate, heaven is waiting for you so get busy baking!

Method For the "Dough":1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let stand 5 minutes.2. Stir in the butter, sugar, egg, yolk, salt, cardamom and 2 1/4-1/2 cups flour, then knead until dough is smooth.3. Cover and refrigerate 2 to 24 hours.4. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to a rectangle of 30x60cm (12 inches by 24 inches).Method For The "Filling":5. Spread with the butter, then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.6. Roll up, starting from one of the 60cm (24-inch) side.7. Cut the roll diagonally into 12 pieces (each piece will be about 1.3cm/½ inch on one side and 7.6/3 inches thick on the other side).8. With two thumbs or the handle of a big wooden spoon, press down the middle of the side of each roll (by doing that the two cut edges will be forced upward/the rolls will resemble two “ears”).9. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease it.10. Place the cinnamon ears on prepared baking sheets. Cover them with a humid towel.11. Let rise for about 40 minutes, until the rolls are puffy and have doubled in size.12. Preheat the oven to 200° C (400° F) after 20 minutes of rising.

Method For The "Glaze":13. Once the rolls have risen, mix the egg and milk together.14. Brush each roll with this mixture and sprinkle with the pearl sugar.15. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly golden.

Remarks:You can replace the castor sugar by light brown sugar.This recipe can be easily doubled.

Serving suggestions:Eat those delicious rolls at any time of the day or night (!!!) and serve with a cup of good coffee or tea.

They look like the real thing! "Korvapuusti" actually literally means 'slap on the ear' and 'kanelipulla' just means a cinnamon bun. I prefer baking pulla with fresh yeast, but dried yeast will do the work too. My mum would always make pulla in milk (instead of water) for more flavour and softness. These look great Rosa! :-)

I really enjoyed reading your background, I have such an affinity for Europe (mine are from France and Germany)... I really must get my hands on that book though. The photos are splendid indeed, and I really like the unique shape of the buns.

Ok, those look delicious!! I seriously want one, and I love the picture with it-- as always. So clever!By the way, I nominated you for an award last night so if you have time, check it out! I posted it on my page.Jess = )

Rosa--what a wonderful post. I never knew about all the wonderful baking from Norway and beyond. My ancestors are from Russia and my grandmothers cooked from scratch and one of them made apple cake with a soft pastry and her leftover dough she cut in triangles and sprinkled poppy seeds on it and baked them too--original and frugal and delicious. Try that technique sometime. I am not a baker--but Rosa--you are not an amateur--you are fabulous!! Gorgeous photos too!

My daughter loves Scandinavian BM and plans on going to Norway this year to the annual heavy metal bash, along with my German brother-in-law, also a fan:) So I can relate, albeit not directly.This little ears look beautiful and I will have to give them a try, especially if they are not as sweet as cinnamon rolls.Beautiful photos:)

What I love most about Scandinavian baking goods is the use of Cardamom! Those little black seeds store so much wonder in taste and uniqueness! Love your photography that captures the perfect brown and lovely appetizing details ;)

These buns are as beautiful as they sound delicious! Love the cardamom and definitely like to read that they are not as sweet as cinnamon buns :-)Thanks for broadening our culinary horizons with Scandinavian cuisine!

Fabulous recipe! Gorgeous buns! I must make these! I am not so into Metal music nor do I watch Scandinavian films but I love Scandinavian authors, mostly detective stories and murder mysteries. Dark, gloomy, mysterious! And the food! The book sounds just wonderful and these buns are just what I love! Beautiful, Rosa!

Fabulous and tasty.I love that kind of pastry full of cinnamom and especially cardamom, I never tasted this one in particular but it looks like some of those I used to eat when I lived in DanemarkBises

I too have a fascination with Scandinavia and am currently learning Swedish. All the recipes I've tried have been amazing so I'm dying to get my hands on that cookbook. Your photos are so gorgeous, especially the ones with the rolled up dough. Glad to see spring is on its way!

first time here......wow...what an amazing space u hav......your clicks are making me drool...what lovely presentation ! glad to follow ur space.....I have a space Only on Fish recipes.....do visit mine whenever hav time :-)

Those look fantastic! I love the idea of a Scandinavian cinnamon bun and the shape is gorgeous. I might have to track down that cookbook. It sounds wonderful.

And though I never cared for metal music of any sort, I did briefly become infatuated with Scandinavian pop music a few years back. Robyn, Kings of Convenience, Royksopp, Sigur Ros, Firefox AK, Kleerup, Bertine Zetlitz. I still listen to them now and then.

Wow, Rosa! These rolls look so fantastic! I am with you on the love of Nordic culture and cuisine. These posts bring me back to when I used to live in Norway. Such wonderful food, people and places. I have some Danish in my background as well! :)

Hi Rosa! I told you I was going to make these "korvapuustit" and I have finally made them today. I kept it in the fridge doubling its volume for eight hours and the result is wonderful. I love the smell as it was being baked, the shape, and what I like most is the fluffy texture. I'm already craving for tomorrow's breakfast time!

I had to add a little bit more of flour, and consequently, of sugar. I'm sure the dough turned out to be loosen than yours, and it got stuck on the working surface a little bit. But never mind!

When I publish it in my blog, I'll let you know in the same way I did with the kibbeh.

Thanks a lot for the recipe, and for your suggesting us the book, which I already have at home :-))

I start drooling at the name of any kind of cinnamon bubs or rolls. They are my big weakness. I LOVE the shape, and if you did not show how you did it, i would have been wondering till I asked you. a little touch to make it pretty. i will have to try this technique with something:)

OMG love love love from australia my nana is finnish and i grew up with pulla but my nana got alzheimer's before i learned to make them, today i came across your recipe, i have already brought the book on ebay today, now im waiting for my very first buns to rise thankyou ♥♥♥

I just love these rolls. They are part of our Christmas and have been since a Finnish friend of my mother in law stayed with us in Hong Kong in the 70s ....we still call them Ilmi's Rolls. But why do you put the dough in the fridge for 2-24 hours? I usually leave mine in a warm place until it doubles in size and then follow your recipe again.